Ross R-10 restoration project

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flying pig

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Beaverlodge, Alberta
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Well this one will be a labour out of love, I don’t love it, but it doesn’t deserve to become a parts gun!

I picked this one up at auction a few months ago. The bore is decent, some pitting and throat erosion but there is rifling present and it should shoot well enough. All the original R-10 parts are there except one butt screw which I have in spares.

This rifle has a lot wrong with it, and will need desperate TLC to be brought back to a decent unit.

The stock has several holes drilled in it and the toe has chipped off and was crudely repaired. But there are no chunks really missing, and it can be repaired so that the repairs are barely visible.


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The metal is externally pitted and has been painted over with some sweet looking aluminum paint. Probably right over the gun oil, the way it has flaked off. Honestly it probably doesn’t look as bad as it did when first applied.

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The screw slots are all shot.

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It’ll need a front sling stud (which I will make). The bolt is sticky but I think it’s just rust/junk in the receiver threads.

It’s basically a complete refinish with a few repairs, wish me luck! Haven’t done one of these in a very, very long time!
 
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Step one is to function test everything. This rifle feeds fine, but the bolt is tight going into battery. I suspect the threads are just filthy. Then a complete disassembly, followed by the easy off oven cleaner program. This thing was filthy!

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Next was to strip the stock completely. I pulled out the old nails and screws in the toe repair and used Devcon two ton epoxy to make the joint. It takes on a darker shade than the wood and blends very well. I’ll drill out the other holes in the stock and add walnut dowels and epoxy those in place. The butt plate screw hole will be repaired this way as well. The stock has quite a bit of oil staining on it, so unfortunately to Color match it I’ll have to use an ebony stain.

The pitting on the metal was too deep to smooth out, there would be not much metal left! So I opted to leave the pits and simply cold blue over them. Cheap option, I know. But this will be a shooter at best, truck gun at worst. It is an original Ross, other than now being restored. So kind of a shame to not make it perfect, but its markings would all be completely obliterated. Therefore this option seemed best.

Before further prep, everything got an hour in CLR. Then I stripped the paint off the metal, then lightly re crowned the barrel. It had been shortened an inch at some point, with a hacksaw, and was crooked. Then I used emery cloth and 220 grit sandpaper on the lathe and cleaned/smoothed the metal. I used a wire wheel gently on the receiver to prep it.

I used cold blue on this one. I haven’t made a new hot blue tank since moving to my new place a few years ago, so rust bluing will come back later.

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End of day one.
 
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Stock repairs have been made. I plugged all the holes with walnut dowels. Just have to wait the the epoxy to dry to finish off the repairs and very lightly sand off the excess epoxy.

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Remember the ‘rule of thumb’ whenever assembling a M1910 action, if the lugs aren’t horizontal with the bolt head pulled forward approximately an inch or the length of the end of your thumb, then the bolt is reassembled wrong and will kill you or seriously hurt you if you manage to get it in battery and fire it. Make sure it looks like this pic!

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The action is re assembled and ready to be put back in the stock once the repairs have been completed and finish applied. The sticky bolt issue is gone now that it has been thoroughly cleaned.
 
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Dowels blended in. I got rid of as much oil staining as possible, then did a couple stain coats to try to blend the rest in.

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Almost finished. I need to make the front swivel and a cross pin for the front sight. And finish adding oil finish to it. But that’s it for now, back to work for a week.
 
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